Postcard from Montpellier, France: ‘Objectotherapy’ in Sete

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A vintage French postage stamp featuring a graphic depiction of a waterfront building in Sete, with a boat in the foreground and hills in the background, labeled "REPUBLICQUE FRANÇAISE" and marked with a value of "25F".

Above: Detail of one assemblage found in glass display cases of “Les Vitrines de Bernard Belluc” at MIAM – Museum of Modest Arts in Sete.

Maybe you first need to cue up a little Felliniesque background music for this post. MIAM – Musee International des Arts Modestes has its own hymn or anthem, composed and performed by Pascal Comelade (1955-) and General Alcozar, to celebrate the opening of the museum in 2000.

MIAM in Sete

“At the turn of the 1980s, the notion of Modest Arts was coined by Herve Di Rosa to designate a set of objects that elude all classifications and do not belong to Great Art. Popular figures, Action Figures, amateur paintings, devotional objects, tourist objects, advertising signs, body arts, video game imagery, from here or elsewhere, these abandoned or downgraded productions challenge us and form the labile territory of the Modest Arts, a dynamic space with shifting borders, capable of constantly renewing itself.” The Modest Arts, MIAM website

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Postcard from Paris, France: Artistic response to animal artifacts

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A vintage postage stamp from France featuring an illustration of a deer, labeled 'Le Cerf', with a natural landscape background and text indicating 'Histoire Naturelle de Buffon'.

Above: Artist Edi Dubien’s addition of a tutu to a stuffed wild boar in the collection of Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature dramatically alters its perceived character.

My word was ignored, it could be heard without hearing it, it could disturb…. I make my characters speak, it’s the wounded childhood that I evoke, this ‘thing’ that comes out of my drawings is a cry, it’s a cry for life.”

Artist Edi Dubien

Your assignment, should you accept it, is to consider an entire museum stretching through the rooms of two historical mansions in Paris as your canvas. You are expected to interact with the immense collection housed within – one that includes paintings of hunting scenes, sculpture and a crowd of mounted deer racks and taxidermized animals of all sizes.

A contemporary artist’s dream commission. The Museum of Hunting and Nature extends the invitation for solo exhibitions to selected artists annually. Founded in 1967 by Jacqueline and Francois Sommer, the museum has broadened its focus from its core collection concentrating on hunting to the relationship between man and animal.

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Postcard from Leon, Spain: Regional specialties to ‘Best Burger in Spain’

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A colorful Spanish postage stamp featuring a flower design made of various food items, celebrating León as the Capital of Gastronomy in 2018.

Above: A generous serving of cecina, thinly sliced cured beef, at Casa Divi.

As do most cities in Spain, Leon prides itself on its regional specialties, many involving meat. The meats of the Castilla y Leon region are indeed delicious, but sometimes we did seek out a few workarounds. The following are the spots we visited, listed in alphabetical order.

A slice of golden-brown savory pancake on a decorative blue and white floral plate.
Above: Tortilla de patatas from Bar El Gallinero.

Never had we spent such a long period in Spain without a classic egg and potato tortilla. To remedy that, Lamar researched where to find the best one in the city. To do that he had to go to a bar, Bar el Gallinero. Open only at night and about as popular a spot on the tapa circuit as you can find.

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